Risky Relations
by xlilyunyun
Summary: Temari loves Shikamaru. Shikamaru loves Temari. How hard is it for them to get together? Yeah, just ask her dad. ShikaTema AU modern day slighty OOC not much tho
1. Chapter 1

AN: Hey, everybody! I know that I haven't updated for any of my stories, both Naruto and Twilight, but that's because I'v been working on this new one. A few things to keep in mind: AU [modern times w/ cell phones and other electronics], no -san, -kun, etc. [it's to complicated for me]. I will be starting school on monday...

disclaimer: i do not own any of the character's of naruto....

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"Hey, Temari. Can you hang out this Saturday?" Shikamaru asked into his dark green cell phone.

"Shika, you know how it is. Thanks for asking though," Temari said sadly into her dark purple cell phone.

Shikamaru sighed. Of course, he knew how it is. He and Temari have known each other for what seems like forever. When Shikamaru finally gathered up enough courage to officially ask Temari to be his girlfriend, Temari was ecstatic. She was literally bouncing off the walls!

Ever since Temari met Shikamaru, she had had a crush on him. Her diary was filled to the brim with "Shikamaru + Temari" written in hearts. The only thing standing in the way of making their relationship public was Temari's father.

Temari's father was good friends with Kakashi-sensei who had opened a martial arts academy. Temari's father stuck her and her brothers into the martial arts academy when he thought they were old enough to start learning. Temari's father also learned martial arts like her sensei when he was a kid. So Temari's father knew what his kids were learning and taught at the academy sometimes.

Of course, Temari's father knew Shikamaru. In fact, he had taught the children's class that Temari and Shikamaru started out in. Now that they were older, they moved to the more advanced class. Even with Shikamaru's laziness, he went to class on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Her father didn't want martial arts to interfere with her studies, but during the summer (where keeping up school grades was no longer an issue) Temari eagerly and happily went to martial arts class with her brothers. This summer was no different. She and Shikamaru saw each other three times a week at most. Sometimes their parents planned vacations or a family thing came up where they couldn't see each other. Still, the couple stole glances of each other during class and talked through instant messaging.

Temari sighed as she and Shikamaru said their good byes and hung up their cell phones. She went to lie in her bed. It was only Tuesday morning; class was later tonight. How could she entertain herself until then? She logged on to her laptop, a gift from her father to keep her out of his hair. Her father even gave her a credit card because she was always asking for money. It really wasn't her fault though. She only had so much money and she wouldn't be able to buy enough groceries to feed the family.

Temari got up from her bed to close her door and opened the blinds so that sunlight could bleed in. Temari flopped onto her bed again still waiting for her laptop to load. Finally, it finished loading and her IM window showed that Shikamaru was on, too.

"Couldn't stay away from me, huh?" Temari thought to herself, smirking in the process.

Instant messaging was the only way she and Shikamaru could communicate safely without her father knowing. Her father closely monitored her cell phone calls, seeing who she called and for how long she had been talking. Surprisingly, he didn't care about her laptop or instant messaging. Temari didn't even think he knew what instant messaging was. Fortunately, lately, he had been backing off on her cell phone plan.

As soon as Temari logged in, an IM window popped up from shadowplayer aka Shikamaru.

shadowplayer: hey

purplewind: hey

shadowplayer: wuts up… anything exciting?

purplewind: not really…

shadowplayer: how r u?

purplewind: slightly P.

shadowplayer: y?

purplewind: cuz a certain impatient bitch can't see a certain person till tonite

shadowplayer: sux for dat bitch :P

Temari rolled her eyes. Of course, Shikamaru knew what she meant. For God's sake, he was practically the smartest guy in the village.

shadowplayer: I kno it's kinda early but do we have a song? u kno; a couple's song

purplewind: iono. do u wanna choose one?

shadowplayer: i was kinda hoping u would find it.

purplewind: aw… that's sweet thanx

shadowplayer: *trying not to blush*

Temari and Shikamaru continued talking for a little bit longer. They finally logged off when Shikamaru's friend, Ino, wanted him to help him at her family's flower shop. Ino wasn't someone Temari had to worry about. She used to flirt shamelessly with Shikamaru, but Shikamaru told her about him and Temari. Ino understood immediately and left Shikamaru alone. Ino was so happy the Shikamaru had finally met someone to be with because she claimed that he was always moping around and looking at clouds all the time. She was practically like a sister to Shikamaru and cared for his well-being. She and Choji, another friend of theirs, was basically the sister and brother Shikamaru never had.

Temari lay in her bed, thinking about how she could spend more time with Shikamaru. Of course, Sakura, Ten Ten and Ino would be happy to help her out by covering for her. She was happy that she had such awesome, understanding friends. She soon fell asleep until she felt someone shaking her shoulder.

"Temi, Temi. I'm hungry and Dad's busy. Kankuro is being a big meanie again. Please, Temi, can you make me something to eat?" her little brother, Gaara, asked.

Temari always had a soft spot for her little brother. Their older brother, Kankuro, had gone emo and didn't really talk to anyone. The only reason they knew he was still alive was when they heard his guitar being played from his room. Their father was a workaholic and didn't really pay attention to his kids. Ever since their mother died, her father stopped being the kind and loving father Temari and Kankuro once knew so well. Gaara was too young to remember the old him.

Temari got up and gave her brother a hug. At school and with her friends, she always acted tough and bad ass, but with only special people she could trust like Gaara and Shikamaru, she let her guard down, but not too much. For some reason, she felt the need to put up a barrier between her and other people.

Gaara held Temari's hand as they walked down th stairs to the kitchen. Gaara went to sit down at the table in his usual chair while Temari dug around in the cabinets for ingredients for a decent meal. She found lots of random ingredients but none of them really fit together.

"Hey, Gaara. Wanna go to the store?" Temari asked, giving up.

Gaara nodded and smiled, always happy to go on an adventure with his big sister.

"I'll be right back, Gaara. I'm going to get my wallet before we go," Temari explained before rushing upstairs.

Temari sighed. She had started to sigh a lot lately. She approached her older brother's door. Loud guitar chords escaped through the supposedly sound proof walls. Temari knocked loudly and the music stopped.

"What do you want?!" Kankuro said angrily from the other side of the door.

"I'm going to the store. Do you want anything?" Temari asked, waiting for an answer.

"Can you get me some instant noodles?" he asked a tad nicer.

Temari made a mental note of this and went to her room to get her wallet. She found it quickly and checked to make sure her credit card was inside. She did an once-over in the mirror to make sure she looked some-what presentable. When she looked in the mirror, she grimaced.

Her right cheek still had a bruise from Saturday's martial arts class. She and Ino were going through some reaction drills, and she was a little slow on one punch. It's not like she didn't deserve it though. They had been doing the drill for about ten minutes straight and she had started slacking off. Ino figured out when she was tide and stole th chance to attack.

Temari did a quick sweep of foundation and the bruise was barely noticeable. She ran downstairs to Gaara who already had his shoes on and was ready to go. She slipped on her tennis shoes and they walked to the neighborhood store.

Gaara took this opportunity to share his news with Temari. She took a separate class than Gaara because he was only six and she was fourteen. Apparently, he was learning a new form that he had really wanted to learn. Temari listened half the time, fading in and out of the conversation. The other half of the time, she thought about what she was going to buy.

They finally reached the store after about a ten minute walk. Temari pulled out a cart and Gaara followed her on her heels. They made their way down the aisle, throwing in the things she thought they would be eating in the next week, including Kankuro's instant noodles. They finished shopping and went to check out. She handed Gaara the lighter bags and carried the heavier ones herself. Together, they walked back to the house.

Gaara and Temari talked all the way back home. Temari dug out her house key and opened the door. Gaara went to the kitchen put his bags on the counter and went to sit in his chair. Temari dug into the bags. She pulled out some instant noodles for Kankuro and got the water to boiling for those while she moved on to make Gaara something to eat.

Temari finished and placed a plate of sushi in front of Gaara. Gaara's eyes widened and he thanked Temari before digging in. Temari smiled warmly and called Kankuro down for lunch. She set his bowl full of noodles and chopsticks in his usual spot.

Kankuro came down the stairs. The metal chains on his pants jingled, noting his arrival. He sat down wordlessly but when he and Temari caught eye contact, his eyeliner-rimmed eyes showed thankfulness. Temari hoped that Gaara wouldn't follow Kankuro's habit and wear make up when he was older. **[AN: Haha; how ironic!]**

Temari filled another plate with sushi and put a dish of soy sauce, wasabi, and pickled ginger on a small tray. She made a trip down the hall to the door at the very end. She knocked twice.

"Come in," her father said from the inside.

Temari opened the door slowly, balancing the tray in one hand.

"I made sushi, father. I hope you like it," Temari said, placing it in front of him.

Her father eyed it skeptically but continued to pile on the wasabi and pickled ginger Temari had put on the side. He chewed it thoughtfully and swallowed.

"The sushi is very well made. Good job and thank you," he said before returning to work.

"Thank you, father. We have martial arts class tonight. We will walk there," Temari said before bowing and leaving the room.

Temari made her way down the hallway. She paused briefly to touch a wall. "_We should decorate these sometime. They are so bare," she thought._ Temari remembered what the house used to look like before her mother's death. Pictures in frames used to cover almost every wall in the house. The house was practically a museum for Temari's family. All of the pictures came down and were stashed in the attic when her mother died.

Gaara and Kankuro were just finished with their lunch and putting their used dishes and utensils in the sink. It was Tuesday so it was Kankuro's turn to wash the dishes. Temari used paper plates and plastic utensils to make myself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich so that Kankuro wouldn't have to wait for her to finish with real dishes. Temari munched on it hungrily. She finished in record time. She hadn't realized that she was that hungry. She didn't even care that she was eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich instead of the awesome sushi or noodles that she had made earlier.

Temari looked over at the clock on the wall. It read five o'clock. _Wow, we had a really late lunch._ Temari threw away her trash and went upstairs to clean up her room a little bit. She bent down and picked up an empty bag of barbeque chips and some dirty clothes. Temari heard two gentle knocks at her bedroom door.

"Come on in," she called out.

Kankuro opened the door hesitantly and peered in. Temari raised a hand and motioned for him to come forward.

"Wow, I thought your room would be all pink and fluffy and girly and sparkly," Kankuro said, relaxing slightly.

"Psh, have I ever seemed like an extremely over the top Barbie?" Temari wittily responded.

He shrugged and proceeded to ask her what he meant to ask in the first place.

"Can you help me find my clothes for tonight? I put them in the hamper last Saturday and now I can't find them," he asked.

Temari got up and walked down to the laundry room with Kankuro right behind her. She spent a good amount of her time there. Since her mom died, Temari pretty much took care of all the "motherly" tasks around the house including doing the laundry and preparing meals.

All of the clothes Temari had washed were neatly hung on hangers. Each family member had their own rack so Temari could immediately find his clothes. Temari pulled them off the rack and handed them to Kankuro. No matter how organized her system was, her brother couldn't do it by himself.

"Thanks, sis," he said before going upstairs.

Temari looked over to Gaara's rack and saw that he hadn't come to pick up his clothes yet so she got his and her clothes and made her way back upstairs. Temari knocked gently on Gaara's door and when she heard a faint "come in", she opened the door and laid Gaara's clothes on his bed. Temari looked over to the clock that hung on the wall.

"Wow; six o'clock already?" she asked to herself.

"We're leaving in ten minutes. Get dressed and meet me and Kankuro downstairs," Temari instructed Gaara and then left the room.

Temari walked down the hall and stopped by Kankuro's room to tell him what she had told Gaara. He just waved her off but Temari knew that he had gotten the message. He absolutely hated being late to class.

Temari opened the door to her room and inhaled deeply. The fragrance of lavender hung in the air. She noted that she would have to write Ino a thank you note for the stick thingies that she had put in lavender oil. She locked the door and proceeded into changing into her uniform.

The uniform consisted of black pants, a white or red shirt depending on if you were a guy or a girl, and black shoes. Temari tucked in her red shirt into her pants and wrapped her green belt tightly at the waistband of her pants. She took out all four of her ponytails out of their hair elastics and brushed her hair out. After her hair was combed, she arranged her hair back into her signature four parts. Temari grabbed her Nike gym bag and headed downstairs.

Gaara and Kankuro were already down stairs waiting for her. Kankuro opened the door and all three of them stepped out. Temari locked the door behind her and they stated walking.

It was about a twenty minute walk to the academy and none of the siblings conversed with each other. Temari thought about Shikamaru (of course) and what to make for dinner. Kankuro wondered if he had enough money for new guitar picks and when he could steal some of Temari's eyeliner. Gaara just hummed quietly to himself and followed his older siblings.

"Hmph; six oh five," Temari thought, looking at her phone for the time, "not bad; not bad at all."

Temari walked into the girls' dressing room to drop off her bag and check her reflection in the mirror. When she walked in, she found Sakura eating a burrito and drinking an ICEE.

"Oh crap," Temari thought to herself.

Sakura never ate junk food unless she had broken up or gotten rejected by a guy. This seemed to be often, about every month or so. If Sakura kept this up, there wouldn't be any guys left in the village to date.

"Who's the idiot this time?" Temari asked, rubbing soothing circles on Sakura's lower back.

"Sasuke," Sakura said mid chew.

Temari sighed. From what she had heard, Ino and Sasuke were together now. Sakura had a tong-time crush on Sasuke and practically everyone, including Sasuke and Ino, knew it. Temari couldn't believe that Ino would go out with him even though she totally knew about Sakura's feelings for him. Had she every heard of the sisters before misters rule? **[AN: very important, ladies! don't forget the "sisters before misters" rule] **

"Sakura, you are an awesome, independent woman. You don't need Sasuke. He's a dumbass for not liking you. Stay strong, girly," Temari said, giving Sakura a pep talk.

After being sure that Sakura was going to be okay, Temari left the girls dressing room. She walked down the picture lined hall to the training hall. Temari bowed in at the entrance of the training hall. It was one of the rules: Bow before entering and exiting the training hall. It was amongst other rules such as no sparring (fighting) without an instructor's permission/supervision and don't touch weapons you haven't been taught yet.

Temari walked into the training hall and took a quick attendance to see who was here. Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji always came to class together because they all lived right next to each other. Shikamaru wasn't here yet so that probably meant that Ino was hanging out with Sasuke and didn't tell Shikamaru and Choji to go to class without her.

Just then, Ino and Sasuke walked in the front door. The door had bells on it to notify that the door was opened. Temari could also hear Ino's high, annoying laugh and Sasuke's low chuckle. Temari stayed where she was in the training hall and started stretching to warm up her muscles. After five minutes, she stood up and went to the open area.

The academy had three areas to practice. The first one was the room by the dressing room with fluffy, white carpet. The second was the training hall where class was always held. Lastly, there was the open area on the other side of the training hall.

Temari was currently a green belt and was perfecting her monkey staff form so that she could test to move up to blue belt.

"I'm a monkey. Be a monkey," Temari thought to herself as she mentally prepared to start her form.

Temari looked at the clock before she started. It was only six twenty. She had a good forty minutes to practice before class. She started practicing, focusing purely on her form. All thoughts that usually came to her mind were gone.

Temari stood up from her horse stance and lowered her arms and staff to get a drink of water. After stretching her legs once more, she stood at her starting position.

"I'm going to do this for real this time. Full power, full speed," Temari though to herself, not caring if she wouldn't have enough energy for class later.

Temari started her form again, correcting herself quickly. Lower horse stance, aim for the side, block up, pause, continue, jump, hit forward. By the time she was finished, sweat was dripping down her face from her hairline and she quickly wiped it off with the back of her hand. She bent over using the staff as a support and took some deep cleansing breathes.

Temari heard applause from the open door frame. She looked up instantly and smiled when she saw who it was. She put up her staff as she ran for Shikamaru and gave him a hug. They held their position for a few seconds longer and let go.

"You did awesome. You're gonna pass that test for sure," Shikamaru reassured her.

"Sure, sure. I need to polish it and my other hand form," Temari reminded him.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes and followed Temari into the main training hall. They did some partner stretches before Sasuke told everyone to line up and get ready for class. At exactly seven o' clock, Sasuke made everyone line up in rows.

"Ready? Bow," Sasuke said before turning his back to the class to bow toward the front of the training hall where the pictures of their sensei's sensei were hanging proudly.

Sasuke turned around to face the class and him and the class exchanged bows. Everyone had to bow. It didn't matter if you liked him or not. Some people, like Naruto for example, wouldn't ever be caught bowing to Sasuke unless they absolutely had to.

Shikamaru sighed as Sasuke led the class into the stretching portion of the class. Shikamaru preferred when Itachi, Sasuke's older brother taught class. Too bad, Itachi was out on a mission. Itachi made the class fun and more interesting and Sasuke just followed the same boring format each class.

Temari looked over to Shikamaru who looked bored out of his mind. She laughed out loud. Her laugh wasn't extremely loud; it was actually pretty quiet. Too bad she had lined up close to the front of the training hall where Sasuke was standing and instructing the class.

"Temari, what are you laughing about?" Sasuke demanded to know.

"Nothing," Temari grumbled while everyone looked at her and Sasuke.

"One hundred push ups and two minutes, all stances, both sides," Sasuke punished her.

"Shikamaru, go watch her and make sure she does all of them correctly," Sasuke directed, pointing to the back of the room.

Shikamaru smirked and left the training hall with Temari on his heels. They walked into the training hall with the fuzzy carpet that Temari hated. Shikamaru plopped down into one of the chairs along the wall and Temari dropped to her knees. She started doing push ups, counting as she did each one.

When Temari was at sixty nine push ups when Kakashi-sensei passed by the open door to the training hall Shikamaru and Temari were in and stopped at the door frame.

"Hi, Temari. What are you doing?" Kakashi asked.

"Uh, Sasuke told me to do one hundred push ups and two minutes of stances because I laughed in the middle of class," Temari explained.

"First question, why is Shikamaru here?" Kakashi asked, raising an eyebrow and smirking.

"Because Sasuke told me to watch Temari and make sure that she was doing the stuff right," Shikamaru said.

"Sure, sure; whatever you say," Kakashi said, rolling his eyes, "You guys are dismissed. Go back to class."

"Remember, laughter is a natural thing. It's actually good for you. We all need a little bit of it. Heck, I need some, too!" Kakashi said laughing.

"Thank you, sensei," Temari thanked him.

Temari and Shikamaru walked back to the main training hall, bowed in, and lined up back in their original spots. Meanwhile, Kakashi stayed at the entrance of the training hall but no one could really see him. He wanted to see what would happen.

"Temari, what are you doing back so fast?!" Sasuke barked at her.

"Uh, I don't have to do the push ups or stances," Temari started to explain.

"What do you mean that you don't? Of course, you have to do them because I told you to!" Sasuke said, interrupting Temari's start of an explanation.

"Actually, she doesn't because _I_ told her not to," Kakashi said, stepping into the room.

Sasuke opened his mouth to protest but he remembered who he was speaking to and closed his mouth.

"Good choice, Sasuke," Kakashi said, "I'd like to talk to you privately. Shikamaru, please continue teaching the class."

Shikamaru walked up to the front of the room and Sasuke walked out of the room to join Kakashi. Temari and the rest of the class bowed at Shikamaru, acknowledging him as the new instructor. He carried on leading the class into different exercises until it was time for self practice.

Temari looked up at the board Kakashi had made and searched for her name. She found it below Kakashi's name, meaning that Kakashi would be the instructor helping her. She quickly grabbed a staff and began practicing.

Self practice was over before Temari even knew it. Shikamaru lined up the class and the class bowed like they did at the beginning of class. He dismissed everyone and the students left the training hall.

Temari walked down the hall to the dressing rooms, untying her belt as she went.

"Yo, Temari!" Naruto greeted, coming up behind her and tapped her on the ass.

"Excuse me? Did you just smack my ass?!" Temari screeched, turning around.

"Uh, yeah?" Naruto said hesitantly and continued walked back towards the wall as Temari advanced at him.

Temari started yelling at Naruto and throwing a few punches to his gut. Naruto tried to fight back but gave up because he knew that he couldn't win.

"Hey, Tema. Hey! Hey! What's going on?" Shikamaru asked as he pulled Temari away from Naruto.

"Frickin' bastard touched my ass!" Temari exclaimed.

It was time for Shikamaru to b pissed.

"What the hell were you thinking? That's my GIRLFRIEND'S ass you were touching! You want me smacking Hinata's ass?" Shikamaru started.

Just then, Neji and Hinata walked by.

"Huh?" Hinata asked, turning red.

"Wa-wa-wa what did you say about my little cousin?" Neji questioned, assuming a protective stance of Hinata.

"Nothing! Naruto was just being a perv to me so Shika came over and defended me by turning the situation around. So no worries. Shika won't be touching Hinata at all," Temari explained in a hurry so that there wouldn't be any conflict.

Neji and Hinata nodded, and both started yelling at Naruto.

"Okay, okay! I get it!" Naruto said finally.

"This isn't over, Naruto. I won't have you disrespecting my kung fu sister and cousin," Neji said to Naruto.

Temari and Shikamaru started walking away from Naruto, Neji and Hinata. When they were about to enter the training hall that led to the dressing rooms, Hinata caught up to Temari.

"Temari, I'm so sorry about Naruto's actions toward you. Please convey my apologies to Shikamaru as well," Hinata apologized.

"Oh; it's okay, Hinata. Apology accepted. Don't worry about it. I think it's mostly Jiraiya's fault anyways," Temari said laughing at the end.

"Thank you so much. It definitely won't be happening again," Hinata reassured her.

Hinata and Temari said their goodbyes. Temari went into the dressing room and grabbed her gym bag and stuck her belt in her locker for next class.

Shikamaru sat waiting for Temari just outside the girls' dressing room. Temari came out quickly. They exchanged a hug before promising to chat later. Shikamaru left to go home with Choji but left Ino behind with Sasuke.

Temari walked to the third training hall, the open area, and found Kankuro and Gaara talking to Shino and Kiba. Her brothers looked up when Temari entered the training hall. She asked if they were done and ready to leave. Her two brothers nodded and said their goodbyes to their friends. The trio formally said goodbye to their sensei and left the academy to go home.

Temari, Kankuro, and Gaara got home within twenty minutes. Temari went to her room and grabbed her silk pajamas that her mother had given her. She slipped into the shower in her connecting bathroom and let the hot water loosen up the muscles in her back. After drying off and putting on her pajamas, she went back to her room.

It was only about 9 PM and her dad didn't really care what time she and her brothers went to bed so she plugged her iPod, a gift from Shikamaru, into her speaker system by her bed and blasted some music.

Temari grabbed her laptop and logged in. Shikamaru wasn't on her IM window so she decided to work on her summer essay. Her teacher from last year asked everyone to write about someone who is special to them and have it done before school starts. Most people blew it off and didn't turn one in. Temari's friends said that she didn't really have to do it. Despite them, Temari continued writing just in case it was for a grade. She didn't want to take any chances because bad grades mean no martial arts and no martial arts means no Shikamaru. Besides, Temari found writing relaxing and a way of letting out her feelings.

Shikamaru had gotten home and taken a quick shower. His mom didn't care about his bed time because it was summer, and his dad was on a mission. Shikamaru was thinking of Temari. He really wanted to take her on a date. Unfortunately for him, he was broke. He thought and thought and finally came up with an idea and called up Temari.

Temari was typing her conclusion paragraph when her phone went off. She lowered the volume of her music, looked at the creen and saw Shikamaru's name. She slid open her phone quickly and held it up to her ear.

"What's up, Shika?" Temari said, closing her laptop after saving her document.

"Are you busy tomorrow around lunch time?" Shikamaru asked.

"Naw, not really. Just have to make breakfast, start the laundry, and do lunch for the family before I'm free. Why?" Temari said making a mental to do list as she said it.

"Because I want you to meet me under the cherry blossom tree at the park for lunch," Shikamaru said.

Temari sat and thought about it and shrugged.

"Sure, I'll meet you there. What time?"

"About two-ish? Is that okay?"

"Yeah."

"I love you, Tema."

"I love you, Shika."

They both hung up. Temari opened up her laptop and finished up her essay. She saved her document and turned off her laptop. She changed her iPod to her sleeping remix and set it to turn off automatically in an hour. Temari surrounded herself in her purple and white pillows after turning off the light. She found a comfortable position under her blanket and listened to the soothing music before falling asleep.

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ooo.... I hope u liked that chapter. this is only the first one tho! the second one will be their date in the park... some funny stuff will happen! plz review! much love, RACH3L


	2. Author's Note

Hello, ladies and gents who have been reading, "Risky Relations". If you're a gent, I think it's awesome that you're even reading my fanfiction.

I apologize for not updating in what seems like forever. No; I haven't forgotten about "Risky Relations". I've had just so many ideas, and I finally got around to writing, typing, and posting one of them.

Today, I realized that I had so many stories just handing out with so many loose ends that need to be tied and new string to be woven in. Pardon the metaphor. But I've decided that I want to try to update/work on one particular story until it's complete.

I haven't had the time or the motivation to continue this story, but if you would like me to update this story, please leave a comment or vote on my poll. I know we're up to the day before Temari and Shikamaru's date which will be lots of fun to write.

I have set up a poll on my profile page, so if you want me to work on this story, "Risky Relations", before I move on to my other stories, please vote for it. I'll be checking the poll next week.

As always, comments and suggestions are welcome and appreciated. Feel free to PM me or leave a review to my stories. I love comments with ideas to move the story along, funny jokes you want incorporated, and challenges like "work in the phrase: _________ into the next chapter". Those are always fun to read and do.

I do my best to listen to your comments and suggestions. Please take the time to vote on my poll. Thanks so much!

Lots of Love, Rachel :)


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